Steam Beauty Blog
Sunday was an amazing day. Prive Salon hosted a breast cancer event for The Foundation for Living Beauty. The women who are treated to this event are either living with cancer or cancer survivors.
Amie Petersen, a long time friend and client is the founder of this organization. Each year she does multiple events that provide women with group activities and retreats relating to beauty and wellness.
This year’s event consisted of the women coming to the salon for a pampering beauty day. I joined my fellow hairstylists at Prive Salon to give these women haircuts and then style their hair for a portrait. Stila cosmetics provided make up services. After the portraits the women had lunch and were able to socialize, re-connecting or being welcomed as a new participant into the group.
It was an honor to be part of the group providing services to these women. The women I worked with told me their stories and it was a touching experience. One of my guests said something powerful to me that was so subtle yet stayed with me all day. We were talking about her hair texture and how hair grows back after cancer treatment. Sometimes it grows back super curly or sometimes straight, or maybe even grey. Hers had grown back much curlier, and she wasn’t really sure how to handle it these days. As I explained how to handle a wiry curly texture she said, “You know after you go through chemo and loose all of your hair you really don’t care how it grows back. You’re just happy to have hair again and now you know it could happen to you.” She told me at the time she was diagnosed, she was taking care of her father who was dying from cancer. She said her first thought was “Not now, I don’t have time for this right now. I have to take care of my father.”
This was so powerful to me. We are living in a time of gratitude, where you hear every day how you should be thankful for what you have. And I participate in that thought and am very conscious of what I have in this world and am more than thankful. But somehow this women’s matter of fact-ness coming from experience made me feel ever more thankful, and grateful and compassionate toward others.
When I finished in the salon that day, I walked outside through the yellow ribbons blocking off Beverly Blvd. Today was the Aids Run. What a day to give thanks.
